I don’t even like to ride the bus at night and Marguerite and Zahra are setting out into the unknown with only a few weeks of combat training and each other. What they’ll find along the road could make up whole other books.
Maybe I’ll write them, one day.
But this is the story I’m telling now. So what I choose to show has to be a piece of the bigger picture. Is every man they meet along the way a threat? Or could there be men who don’t instill fear?
#notallmen and all that.
But they are a threat, unless proven otherwise. And two young women traveling alone don’t have the luxury of allowing men to prove themselves trustworthy.
It wasn’t just Craig.
It was the players and football fans who immediately rallied to support a water boy they’d never given the time of day to before, who thought the distraction to a football program was more damaging than the destruction of a girl’s life.
It was the administration pledging a crackdown on the Greek system that fizzled the second the media looked away.
It was fraternity brothers who made him their pet, even though they hadn’t considered him manly enough when he pledged. Because if he was guilty, what were they?
It was even running back Reece Hutchinson, hailed by feminist Twitter as the #notallmen hero we’d been waiting for because he testified on Nor’s behalf, to the fury of the Husky faithful. He saw Nor and Craig together, saw how completely plastered she was. Saw Craig grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the back door. Even tried to stop them.
Didn’t get drafted to the NFL, despite being a top-ranked prospect. But that’s okay because at least he’s a Twitter hero.
Except here’s the thing: Reece Hutchinson is a human battering ram. Does anyone believe Craig Lawrence would have stood a chance against him? It didn’t even have to get physical. If Hutchinson had done more than the barest minimum, had leveraged his status and done more than say, “Bro, maybe leave her alone,” none of this would be happening.
Then, maybe, I’d consider him a hero. Except no one would know. And if no one applauds your feminism, did you even perform it?